A Final Goodbye
by Audlie
Summary: My epilogue for Crimson Peak.
1. A Final Goodbye

After returning to America, Edith jumped back into her writing. She had a new perspective on romance and love and was able to add a different aspect of it to her book. It was different, ugly and hard and it sold.

Not that she needed the money of course with her father's inheritance she could have lived well off for the rest of her life but that just was just completely against her nature. She needed to make her own path, her own name, make 'Edith Cushing' a legacy in its self, not the unfortunate daughter of a deceased industrialist who was swept away to England by a Baronet only to come back a widow.

Alan's mother always made sure to bring up their previous conversation in which Edith said she preferred to die a widow than a spinster whenever she was in earshot. Edith was already very good at ignoring her barbs but even more so now that she was becoming successful in her career. Alan would always try to silence or at least lessen his mother's vitriol by keeping them away from each other at all costs.

Upon their return, Alan had begun making more advances toward Edith. Making it well known that he was looking to further their relationship. Having had the experience of someone else taking what you thought could be yours, managed to pick up his initiative and causing him to be more forward with his intentions.

Edith quickly shut him down as soon as it became apparent to her. She did not want love. She did not want romance. Her love was her writing and her stories. She needn't more than that lest it distract her from her work.

Unfortunately, her work would become a strain to keep up with. After 4 months back home she found herself pregnant, a miracle and a possible curse. Thankfully, her handmaids were the most attentive and helpful women around and made things much easier to do work while trying to fight off morning sickness and back aches.

What surprised her most was after all she had been through physically for the fetus to survive. The poison, the fall from the stairs and the long travel in the cold back from Allerdale Hall would have surely caused some damage to her or the baby at some time but everything seemed perfectly fine. Another thing she worried was that the child may come out with the evil intention inside them considering the father and aunt.

Alan had made one more attempt at Edith's affections, stating how he could at least help with raising the child even though it was not his and again Edith declined. This was her child and her life, as good a friend as Alan was, he was not the father, nor the man she loved and did not need him to intervene but he would always be welcome to visit. He was still a friend after all.

On the day Carter Thomas Sharpe was born there was a cold feeling around the entire house. She had given birth in her room on her own bed and could feel that something or someone was in the room with them observing. That night while the midwife had gone to the main room with the child so Edith could sleep she felt a hand move from her forehead to her cheek in a slow caress waking her from her sleep. When she opened her eyes the hand was gone but a faint white smoke was swirling slowly and disappeared.

For the first week Edith was forced to stay in bed but quickly grew restless. The midwife ordered her to stay for the required three weeks of convalescence while her and the maids would make her comfortable and help tend to the child. Edith was having none of that and was constantly caught roaming around the house with little Carter, showing him things and conversing with him when all he could contribute were coos and yawns. The midwife quickly gave up on forcing Edith to do anything knowing she would only be defied and made sure to have one of the maids at her side at all times.

Once it was time for the midwife and her attendants to leave, Edith was relieved. They had constantly been on her for straining herself when she felt fine doing the things she was doing and her own handmaids were perfectly capable of helping her with anything she absolutely couldn't do.

Being a mother and a publishing writer was difficult at times but for the most part a task she could handle. It was a challenge she all too gladly took and enjoyed every minute. Having her play times with Carter and taking him with her to small events.

His black curls always started a frenzy of gossip everywhere Edith went but quickly died down with how unashamed and confident her and her son were together. She always made a point to never regret what happened.

She loved Thomas, even after what had happened. She knew that he loved her back and died trying to save her, so in her eyes their child was not a mistake. If things had been more ideal there's a possibility that they would have been able to have a real life together and she'd like to think that Thomas, despite his flaws, would have been a good father.

Carter is growing to be a fine young boy. At 2, he was already taking things apart and laying them out in organized piles along the floor. By the time he was 3, he was putting things back together but not always getting it right. At 4, he was a master at deconstructing and rebuilding any device he could get his hands on. Edith was so proud.

On Carter's 6th birthday she had one of his inventions patented and he was already gaining revenue. The boy was as crafty as his father but also had the stubborn smarts of his mother, never backing down from other children who would make fun of him for being so attached to his mother or the oil stains forever on his hands.

Alan always seemed to be around, being a surrogate uncle of sorts occasionally spoiling Carter when he would see Edith getting frustrated with her typewriters constantly being left with missing parts on purpose when she didn't let him have a second desert. At first he avoided the dark haired boy but once he saw Edith's tenacity in him he was instantly caught under his thumb.

One night, a few months after Carter's 9th birthday, Edith awoke suddenly, feeling a pull. She hadn't felt anything like this since her last encounter with the ghosts of Allerdale Hall.

This pull was strong and yearning. She got up from her bed wearing a thick night gown to fend off the cold and made her way to her study. There she found Carter out of his bed at this late hour, in the middle of the room, playing with one of his inventions. Frustration building in her Edith moved with quick steps to him when she stopped dead in her tracks finally getting a look at what he was playing with.

It was the miniature of Thomas's invention whirring lightly with small puffs of steam emitting from its exhaust.

"Carter, dear, where did you get that?"

Without turning around he answered. "It was on the table in the sitting room and a voice told me I needed to bring it here where there was more space. It's fascinating isn't it?" Finally turning around he had a wide grin plastered on his face normally saved for after he'd built something new that worked perfectly. "Who does it belong to, mother? I must know, it's so well built. Could you imagine a full scale of this?"

"Carter, go to bed please."

"But mother I was j-"

"Go to bed!" Edith hated shouting at Carter, and had only twice before done it, but this situation was too heavy for him to be involved. Any one of those specters could be around waiting to come out writhing and spewing words of warning or even Lucille's in a jealous rage waiting for the opportune moment to strike, if her ghost could actually harm her. With all her hate she probably could.

He reluctantly stood and headed for the door leading to his room. "Sorry mum."

When Carter was gone, she tentatively moved towards the little contraption. It sputtered and whirred reminding her of her husband's full sized model digging through the blood red ground.

Tears were falling down her cheeks before she realized she was even crying. Falling inelegantly to her knees beside the machine she felt her insides ache at the thought of her love.

She'd never really allowed herself to mourn him. The trek out of that horror and the bumpy ride back to the nearest town was filled with physical pain until she got to a doctor for full recovery. After coming back to America she'd delved straight into writing and even through the emotional turbulence of her pregnancy she never once cried for Thomas.

Now, here in her study, kneeling next to the small piece of machinery that made her realize that Thomas was as much the dreamer as she was and subsequently sparking the flame that became her love, she allowed herself to cry. Not only cry for what happened to her, but for Thomas. For the life they never got to have. For the life he died trying to attain.

"My dear Edith." Came a soft but distorted voice from behind her.

Startled, Edith turned around quickly, nearly missing the small machine.

"T-T-Thomas?" Edith said with a sob.

Floating above the floor about three feet away from her was the ghost of Sir Thomas Sharpe. White hair, skin and clothes, yellow eyes and white smoke lazily waving away from the wounds at his stomach, chest and face.

Standing quickly, Edith rushed to him, lightly feeling for his chest knowing it would not be solid but willing herself to pretend that he was there. Hiccupping mild sobs she looked up into his blazing eyes.

"How… how are you here? I thought your ghost was trapped by the house."

"I became bound to my inventions. I managed to slither my way to the model and compel whoever touched it to bring me here" His voice was slow and distorted. "I arrived not long after you in a package, but one of your maids had hidden it away in hopes you would not find it since it bore my name. On this day I compelled her to bring me out."

"What da-" Stopping herself she realized the day. It was the anniversary of the fall of Allerdale Hall. This day, 10 years ago, her life had been torn apart and laid out to be put back together. She'd lost her husband and an enemy but gained a new respect for life.

"I've been watching. Seeing you become a wonderful mother, and our son," He stopped there as his features showed sadness, anger, happiness and regret. "Our son. Watching him become an inventor." A long, low sob of a moan escaped his lips. Upset with himself for his death but proud that his heir inherited his knack for building things. It was a bittersweet agony that his ghostly moans could only barely express.

"He's a lot like you, Thomas. He's a genius with his hands and can build nearly anything."

"But he has your drive and confidence." His eyes shown love and admiration she hadn't seen since the first times he'd looked at her all those 10 years ago. "He has the life I would never have been able to provide. As well off as you two are, I could not stop myself from feeling the ache of longing to be with you and him. My true family."

"Thomas. We will always be here. Dead or not you are still my husband and apart of this family."

"Dearest Edith, I can no longer be here. My spirit tires but I stayed to see you and Carter living. I need to move on. My spirit was not made to stay and linger here for so long. I feel the pull constantly but I resist. I love you, Edith, and please tell Carter I love him and how so very proud I am of the man he's becoming."

"Wait, Thomas!"

"I love you."

And he was gone in a cloud of white dust. Falling to her knees once again, Edith sobbed long and hard. She didn't hear the footsteps coming closer until a hand lay on her back. She looked up quickly hoping beyond hope that Thomas had managed something, instead seeing a young Thomas. Her Carter, with worry etched on his face.

"Mother, who was that?"

Turning her face to where Thomas' specter was, she fought back her urge to scream and wail at the pain in her chest. "That was a ghost of my past come back to heal old wounds."


	2. Her Final Goodbye

Edith stood in the snow, covered in blood, staring at Lucille.

"You have no one left."

"You're wrong." As she looked over Lucille's shoulder she saw Thomas. Black hair, loose white shirt under his black waist coat looking at Lucille with anger and sadness.

Edith swung the shovel down onto her head and it was over. The monster who had been controlling her life since she'd arrived to Allerdale Hall and Thomas's since they were children, was finally gone.

She rushed over to him, touching his face, not completely believing he was really there but sure enough he was and he hugged her so tightly as they cried together.

After retrieving Alan, they made their way to town with the caravan that he had requested. The ride was tense and Thomas had made attempts to speak to Edith to which she had told him it could wait. They all needed to clean up, settle down and then discuss what they needed to.

After arriving at the general store and post office, they were allowed to clean up and stay the night. Edith insisted Thomas and Alan sleep in their own room while she stayed in the room her and Thomas had the night before.

The next morning they made their way back to America and Edith made it clear that she would stay married to Thomas but would keep him at arm's length until they arrived to her home.

Alan was not pleased with her decision to remain with Thomas but was thankful towards him for sparing his life when Lucille demanded otherwise. Edith informed him it was not his decision and that as a friend he needed to respect her wishes.

There was one night Edith sat down with Thomas after a few days of being back and they talked. He exposed his inner workings to her, told her of everything that had transpired between him and his sister, his experiences with his parents and the unfortunate wives. He spoke brutally honest of the plan they had set up when he had come asking for investors, of what made him change his mind and pick her, the moment he fell in love with her and the moment he finally felt free of Lucille's hold on him.

He bared his soul to Edith hoping only for her to listen and understand, not expecting her to forgive him and give herself to him that night but she did. It was lovely and slow, different to their first night but she allowed him to take charge and worship her. There were many nights of similar passion to follow.

Their marriage was perfect. Thomas was extremely flexible and bowed to every whim of Edith's and she would surprise him with her domineering confidence in everything she did but would also take in his words just as seriously as her own. The two worked so well together it was hard to believe the horror they had been through.

Thomas was much happier and freer now. Openly giving his opinions, with Edith listening and actually taking them into consideration for things they did together was something completely new to him. Their dynamic was the two having an equal footing on every subject which rubbed many people the wrong way. Edith always made it known that she was no blushing bride that would cow to anyone's whims, even her husbands and Thomas wouldn't have it any other way.

Edith began writing again with a new understanding of love and tragedy. Her book was a success and before she could finish her second manuscript she found out she was pregnant.

Thomas had been given a room and shop to work on his inventions and became a toy maker. He loved tinkering with everything and would fix any little thing he could find needing fixed in the house. To Edith's delight he had already began creating a mobile with little toy books hanging from it that moved with clock like gears when she'd told him her news. He was ecstatic and swung her around his workshop before putting her down gingerly and apologizing for being too rough.

The nine months of Edith's pregnancy were fairly smooth up until it became hard for her to sit at her desk and type, to which Thomas took the role of transcribing for her. The handmaid's would help with things when Thomas was working but for the most part he was the perfect doting husband.

* * *

Thomas was tinkering with his latest invention. When a handmaid came rushing into his workshop.

"Sir Thomas, your wife she is in labor and she is asking for you." She said, attempting to catch her breath.

"L-labor? Are you c-certain?" As he said this he began putting away some of his tools and reached for his sign to post up that he was closed.

"Yes sir, the baby may be here before the afternoon is over."

"So soon?! I-I ah, thank you. I'll be right there." He couldn't believe it. His child was to be born soon. Edith was in labor and she needed him. He rushed to the back of the shop to the door that connected to their home and pushed through. Making his way through the house he could hear a loud scream come from their bedroom. With a huge smile on his face he made his way up.

Bursting into the room, he spotting his wife spread open on their bed sweating and straining, with the midwife and her attendees surrounding her. He rushed to her side taking her hand in his as she angrily yelled at him for causing this. She yelled, cried and beat at him for five hours straight but he could not tear the smile from his face the entire time.

* * *

When the child finally came into the world, both Thomas and the baby cried. Edith, exhausted and breathing heavy, looked over to him holding their child looking so proud with tears streaming down his face. She couldn't help but reflect on everything they had been through up to that point. Their love was an odd one but it was real and it was theirs.

When Thomas finally took his eyes off their child, he looked up to Edith with a huge smile before her eyelids got heavy and she slipped into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

Edith woke with a start, sitting straight up in her bed. Sweating and with tears in her eyes she looked to her side only to see her bed as it always was, empty.

She suddenly remembered everything. What really happened, Thomas' ghost behind Lucille, the trip home with Alan, the birth of her son Carter and the one night a few months ago.

That night being when she had finally gotten closure with Thomas. His ghost had arrived and told her that he had been watching over her and their son and was proud of how well he had turned out.

Fresh tears began rushing down her face as she recalled her dream. Everything seemed so real. Even as her dream self had taken on Thomas perspective it had still felt genuine.

Why would her mind do that to her? Give her that false hope that she would wake to her husband at her side with graying hair and smile lines matching her own. That she could actually feel his touch from her dream when they made love in her bedroom after their long talk.

She took a deep breath, composing herself as she heard footsteps coming towards her room. Cautiously, she stood from her bed wrapping her sleeping gown around herself as she made her way to the door.

The sound of small metal parts clinking together came from the other side followed by the brushing of fabric against fabric and with it a fragrance of a distinct male scent swept through the door frame. Steam, earth and him. Thomas.

She opened the door to an empty hallway and white smoke slowly swirling and dissipating in the air. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground sobbing.

This was not her last encounter with Thomas' ghost. After that first night, she began having similar occurrences at decreasing intervals. Five months, three months, one month and then two weeks. Each time the dreams were more vivid and would be followed with some sort of vague encounter.

After the third encounter, she began getting headaches and memory loss. She didn't want to alarm anyone, especially her son so she never mentioned it to them. By the fifth encounter she was having trouble distinguishing the dreams from reality and Alan began noticing something was wrong.

She had called him Thomas one evening and asked if he had finished fixing their sons mobile. Alan questioned her about it and after a few minutes she came back to herself, confused.

He told her she needed to see a doctor but she refused. He spoke to Carter about it trying to explain as best he could to the boy why his mother kept asking him when his father would be back from the workshop. He had gotten the general idea but the two were both confused as to what was causing it.

Finally, against Edith's wishes, he called a doctor to come see her. She refused to be examined until he had mentioned how her episodes were affecting Carter and she finally gave in.

She was dying. The poison that had been administered to her for that short amount of time had left something in her that slowly took it's toll. Her memory loss, her detachment from reality and her dreams were all apart of it. The past ten years her body had been able to keep up a resistance to its effects but as she got older her body weakened slightly and the poison began to take her.

She spoke to Carter about it, who understood what was happening after she explained, like the bright boy he was but he didn't know where the poison had come from. Edith refused to tell him of his father and aunt's lives and what they had done to her. She would not have her son hating his father when he had died trying to help them survive.

* * *

Tonight she knew the dream was coming. It had been only three days since her last dream but she could feel it. Her mind had been escaping her more often than she'd liked and had asked Alan to take Carter in for her. Alan had agreed immediately but Carter put up a fight.

He wanted to be with his mother no matter what but she didn't want her son to see his mother fall into insanity as she could feel she was. The things she could inadvertently reveal to him about his father and aunt was something she could not risk.

So, here she lay in her bed, that from one minute she knew was her own and the next felt expectant that her husband was just in the other room preparing for the night.

Suddenly, the room grew cold and she wasn't the slightest bit surprised. The sound of clinking metal came from the other side of the door along with footsteps and a knock. She didn't move from her spot on the bed and simply waited.

The door knob shook slightly as it slowly turned and clicked. The door creaked loudly as it opened to reveal her husband, Thomas, standing in the doorway just as she had remembered him. His ethereal beauty always astounding her.

He walked towards her and stopped on the far side of her bed that she would reserve for him during her episodes. He slipped under the covers and slid next to her. She turned towards him and to her surprise she could touch him. His body was solid and in that moment she knew these were her last moments.

Snuggling close to his chest taking in his natural scent, she wept with a smile as he held onto her whispering how much he loved her and missed holding her.

* * *

Later that night, Carter had felt a shiver run through his body and he jumped from the spare bed in Alan's home and looked through the open door into the hallway.

Standing at the end of the hall, were two white figures. A man with wavy hair in a waistcoat with a spot on his cheek and chest that emitted a lazy smoke and a woman with long wavy hair down to her waist in a long night gown with smoke coming from her head.

They smiled at him and he knew it was his parents and before he could stand up to go to them they were gone in a gush of wind coming from nowhere.

He only hoped that his mother went as peacefully as she deserved and knew that he loved her more than anything in the world.


End file.
